David Hughes is the Daily Telegraph's chief leader writer. He has been covering British politics for 30 years.

Is Lord Mandelson losing his touch?

Could it be true that the Emperor has no clothes? That the Great Panjandrum himself, the First Secretary of State, the minister responsible for just about everything, is not quite what he's cracked up to be? Well, that's the only conclusion to be drawn from his toe-to-toe tussle with Evan Davis on the Today programme this morning.
Davis is a brilliant economic analyst but is hardly the most incisive of interviewers – far too discursive and ill-disciplined. But he managed to leave Mandelson flailing about like a punch-drunk, over the hill, ex champ. Mandy made a massive misjudgement at the start in thinking he could get away with attacking Tory policies. When asked what Labour are going to do about the deficit that is going to hang round this country's neck for years to come, he did not have a coherent answer. The best he could come up with was the claim that Alistair Darling had a viable plan that he had outlined in the Budget. In other words, Mandy did not have a clue.

The Deputy Prime Minister said on his return from Corfu that he would be keeping his head down during his week minding the shop.That was a sensible idea - he should have stuck to it.